Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Minister for the Armed Forces, Mr Adam Ingram, on 9 October (Official Report, 176W), how many Sea King, Lynx and Puma helicopters are held undeployed in reserve; and what steps are required to make them deployable.

Lord Drayson: The helicopter fleet does not contain any "reserve" aircraft. Aircraft are either in the forward fleet with the front-line commands (FLCs) being used for operational deployment or other tasks; in the depth fleet for maintenance and upgrades; or awaiting disposal action where the airframe life has been achieved or is beyond economical repair.
	The numbers of Sea King, Lynx and Puma helicopters in the forward and depth fleets as at 5 October 2006 is shown in the table below.
	
		
			  Forward Fleet Depth Fleet Total Fleet1 
			  On Operations Other Tasks   
			 Sea King Mk4 6 19 12 37 
			 Sea King Mk6c Nil 4 1 5 
			 Sea King Mk5 Nil 12 4 16 
			 Sea King Mk7 Nil 9 2 11 
			 Lynx Mk7/9 19 55 26 100 
			 Lynx Mk3/8 1 43 21 65 
			 Puma 7 19 14 40 
			 1 Does not include aircraft currently classified as unrepairable or redundant. 
		
	
	Action needed to prepare these aircraft for any given deployment will vary depending on the likely duration of the requirement and on the capability and number of aircraft required. Aircraft in the depth fleet are undergoing programmed maintenance and repair, which is crucial to sustaining the forward fleet. Maintenance and support policies are designed to ensure that the maximum number of aircraft from the departmental fleet can be made available at the highest state of readiness should they be required to meet an intensity of operations demanding high numbers of aircraft.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Raising the inheritance tax threshold with effect from 2007-08 would have the following effect on forecast revenue:
	
		
			 Year Reduction in receipts from raising threshold to 
			  (a) £350,000 (b) £400,000 
			 2007-08 £0.3 billion £0.4 billion 
			 2008-09 £0.5 billion £1.0 billion 
			 2009-10 £0.6 billion £1.1 billion 
			 2010-11 £0.6 billion £1.1 billion